Absent Dragons
by Eden'sEnd116
Summary: A favor that leads to an encounter with a curious girl. Looks can be deceiving and she is no exception. A tale of fantastic beasts. Of family and friends. Of adventure, sorrow, and love. This is a work in progress. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Minerva McGonagall, Hogwarts Professors, OCs, Forbidden Forest, Self-shipping etc.
1. Chapter 1: A Favor

**Chapter 1: A Favor**

_Knock. Knock._

"Come in!" came the answer with the ever so present Scottish lilt.

Kingsley Shacklebolt entered the office of the Hogwarts Headmistress with more than a bit of caution. He had a bit of a worried and hesitant look about him.

Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat behind her desk with glasses perched on the end of her nose as the ever present quill in her right hand scribbled and scratched away at a bit of correspondence. After a moment or two she finally glanced up at her visitor over the rim of her glasses. Her piercing green eyes seemed a bit shocked to see the Minister standing in front of her desk, hat in hand.

"Good afternoon, Kingsley. To what do I owe this rather unexpected visit? Normally you would have just firecalled..." she greeted, letting her apparent confusion and curiosity seep into her tone as she straightened her back and set her quill down.

"Good afternoon, Minerva." Kingsley stated as he took a seat in front of her desk. Not noticing the woman's surprised look. It wasn't usual for the young Minister to use her first name when they were meeting in her office as such.

Even if the meeting were a little unprecedented as it was.

"I am sorry that I didn't give you prior warning as to my visit. It was a bit last minute." He said as an apology; or an excuse so far as Minerva could perceive. Kingsley had yet to look her in the eye. Fidgeting in his seat as if he was as nervous as a first year ready to be sorted.

Minerva removed her spectacles and eyed him from a moment, waiting for him to continue. Which after a minute he did not do. "Kingsley?"

At last he locked eyes with the formidable witch and then sighed a bit heavily.

"Minerva." He started before clearing his throat and starting again, "Minerva. Something has recently presented itself to us… Or rather… Someone. It is a bit of an odd situation for us at the Ministry to keep this under wraps. In truth it has been going on for some time now. But, circumstances seemed to have changed and the Ministry is no longer able to keep this person away from the known public."

The Headmistress sat a bit straighter in her chair.

"You have my attention, Kingsley, now what is going on exactly?"

Again the dark skinned man sighed. Kingsley sat forward in his chair. Bringing his elbows to rest on his knees as his hands rubbed across his weary face before they folded themselves in front of his nose. He looked at the elder squarely over his fingertips, "What exactly is going on? Well, that is rather difficult to explain…" At her pointed stare he amended, "But, I shall do my best. It has come to our attention that there is an orphan in Dundee."

"An orphan?" Minerva frowned and stared at him warily, "This school hasn't had much luck with orphans you know."

Her mind was in the past. On a boy, an orphan, who became a monster.

Kingsley nodded, knowing full well what she was referring, "This is a special case though, Minerva. She is almost fourteen and-"

"Fourteen! Kingsley fourteen year old muggle orphans are not any of my concern." Minerva exclaimed.

"She is not a muggle, Minerva. As I said this is a special case."

"I don't understand…"

"We weren't sure if she was going to be a witch. She showed no previous signs up until this past year."

This brought another frown to the witch's face; her lips pursing and her brows creasing. "That is-"

"Strange." Kingsley finished for her.

She nodded.

"Yes. We know. However, this case was rather… Strange to begin with but, I fear that this is no longer within our ability to keep from the muggle public. Not even our sources at the orphanage can keep this hidden much longer. What we need is a safer location to keep the girl. She is too young to be out on her own and with her magical abilities just becoming fully known, she will need schooling and to be guarded properly." Kingsley shook his head, sitting back in his chair finally.

With tension slowly building in her shoulders, fearing she already knew the answer, Minerva asked, "Kingsley what exactly is the point you are trying to get at?"

"What I need is a favor."

"A favor…" Minerva repeated slowly.

The wizard nodded.

"I need her to be brought here. She needs schooling. Proper schooling. Protection. We cannot keep her at that orphanage any longer for risk of our world being exposed. There is no better place for her. She will be kept here year round. Through the summers. She will live and breathe here until she is of age and able to take care of herself inevitably."

Minerva was stunned. What he was asking…_Through the summers?_ This child would practically be raised here. '_Live and breathe here'_

"Kingsley… What you are asking… I can't… That is…"

"It isn't exactly protocol, I am aware. It isn't normal, I am aware. It seems next to impossible for a child to be brought up here without parental guardian ship, I am aware. But, the simple fact is is that we do not have another choice. There is nowhere else for this girl to go and it is not exactly as if we can throw her in a cell to keep her under surveillance, Minerva, it simply isn't done. The Board of Governors and all those who are aware of the circumstances surrounding this girl have agreed to what I am proposing to you."

"This is entirely unorthodox. How exactly do you expect her to be taken care of?" The Headmistress was in truth rather flustered. This was a bit much to take in. Her brain was working a mile a minute.

"As any other other child would be taken care of. She has a few years of schooling to catch up on. You'll make it work. She's a girl, Minerva. You run a school and you were a teacher. You should be used to that by now."

The Minister stood slowly and placed his hat back onto his head.

With a pleading look he said, "Please, Minerva… You know I wouldn't ask something like this of you if it wasn't of some importance. You know that..."

Minerva stared at the man, her face null and void of emotion. Then with a determined look in her eye and her lips firmly pursed, she gave a sharp nod.

"Thank you, Headmistress." He turned and headed for the door, his lavender robes flaring around him.

As he reached for the door brass handle he heard her call out to him and turned his head to face the witch who sat behind her desk with a questioning look in her eyes.

"What exactly did you mean by… strange?"

'_There's that word again,' _she thought.

Kingsley shook his head slightly. "You will have to see that for yourself, Minerva."

Opening to hardwood oak door, he called over his shoulder, "We'll be in touch."

'_Strange. '_

**TBC…**

_**A/N:******__ Okay so let me know if you think I should continue with this. It's really a work in progress but, I would like some feedback._


	2. Chapter 2: Meet the Girl

**Chapter 2: Meet the Girl**

Timber Rose Rains was a very somber person, somber and quiet. She liked to wear dark clothing; which goes very well with her blood red hair and caramel brown eyes if she did say so herself, and listen to classic rock. With the occasional classical, oldies, or indie pop mixed in. If she wasn't reading some tale or another, she was listening to music.

She spent most her days observing people as she knew she was being observed.

Though by whom she wasn't exactly sure. But, with her short stature and quiet nature Timber went generally unnoticed by most. This was fine by her at any point.

Timber seemed to be an everyday gothic, rock chick.

And yet, she knew she was different, very different.

Lately things had been getting weirder and weirder. Like things moving from place to place. Disappearing and reappearing. Things cracked or changed color.

Now Timber wasn't exactly superstitious, but she was sure getting there.

She was lounging in her room at the St. Francis Orphanage and Foster Home reading one of her various books on myths and legends when there was a knock at her door. Placing the book down beside her, she sat up slowly and looked at the door, hoping that she was hearing things.

_Knock. Knock._

Timber sighed. No such luck.

"Come in." Timber called out as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

The door opened to reveal Sister Mary Katherine, a middle aged Nun who worked as one of the supervisors at the Orphanage. Behind her stood two men of whom she had never seen before. One of them was a tall dark skinned man with a bald head and a kind but, stoic face. And the other was shorter; though taller than she, with flaming red hair and to Timber's own personal bewilderment seemed rather anxious to get out of here.

'_Heh, join the club.'_ Timber thought.

"Good evening Sister." Glancing at the two men she added, "And company."

Sister Mary Katherine glanced at the two men before she addressed Timber. "Good evening, Miss Rains. I am sure you are wondering who these gentlemen are here." Timber just stared at her. The Sister cleared her throat before turning to the two behind her. "Yes, well she's all yours." With that the Nun strode past them and down the hall.

The dark skinned man was the one to approach Timber; the red haired man seemed to be a bit ill at ease. Timber shook her head a bit before focusing on the man who was now sitting upon her roommate's bed across from her.

"Hello, Miss Rains. My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt and this is Percy Weasley." Kingsley introduced himself and with a bit of amusement shook the hand Timber stuck out to him with a quick, 'Nice to meet ya.'

"Well, I'm sure you're wondering who we are and why we're here?"

Kingsley paused a moment.

Timber waited. She was patient but, she was already a bit put off about having her reading time interrupted.

"Well?" she exclaimed with a biting Scottish accent, startling both Kingsley and Percy. "Are you going to tell me or are you just going to sit there like a bunch of ninnies?"

* * *

"What? Woah, woah wait a minute now. I'm a what now?"

"A witch." Kingsley stated calmly as if he had just said the most conventional thing.

Timber was standing in front of him with a look that clearly said, _"Are you nuts?"_

Shaking her head vigorously and shaking her hands in front of her in the negative, "Nah, no, no, no. I can't be a-"

Timber stopped, twitched her lips to the side, and crossed her arms.

"Well actually that would explain a few things." Timber ran a hand roughly through her shoulder length, blood red hair. "But, what about…"

Kingsley sadly shook his head, "We still aren't exactly sure about that yet, Miss Rains."

She sighed, "Ah I see."

With that she sat down heavily on her bed and crossed her legs. She wasn't sure if she was scared, surprised, happy, or if she wanted to cry.

"Well," she questioned softly, "Now what?"

Kingsley stood up and held a hand out to her. "Now we are to take you to a safe place. A magical place. I'm sure you'll like it."

Timber twitched her lips to the side and furrowed her brow before grasping his hand and allowing him to pull her up. "What about my things?"

Timber watched as Mr. Shacklebolt pulled a long stick out of the sleeve of his tailored suit jacket. It didn't look like any ordinary stick. Sanded, whittled, and perfectly polished. It was made of a dark wood. '_Maybe mahogany?'_ Timber thought as she watched him swish it like he was commanding a symphony.

Suddenly everything that belonged to her was packed into a large green trunk that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Timber jumped back slightly, "What in the blue blazes was that?!"

Chuckling at her choice of words, Kingsley held out his hand and showed her what was in his grasp. "This Miss Rains is a wand."

"A wand? So we really use those things?" Timber said thoughtfully as she looked at the finely polished wood. A smile bloomed on her face, "So when do I get one?"

Kingsley laughed as he led the girl and Mr. Weasley out of the room.

_**TBC**_


	3. Chapter 3: Strange Indeed

**Chapter 3: Strange Indeed**

It was just an hour after the Minister arrived with Percy Weasley and some girl she had never met. The girl stood at about 5'0 with oddly colored blood red hair, and sparkling caramel colored eyes. She wore black pants with a black turtle neck tucked into them, black snow boots, and a thigh length emerald colored jacket.

She was introduced as a Miss Timber Rains.

Minerva's first thought was, '_You're kidding me right?'_

Nonetheless Timber had been polite and introduced herself to the tall witch.

The woman was a sight to see. Tall, with green robes; she had been told. Raven colored hair pulled back into a tight bun and a set of piercing green eyes.

Timber immediately could tell that she was a force to be reckoned with and took a liking to the tall emerald clad witch right off the bat. '_The Iron Lady of Hogwarts.'_ Timber had thought.

Timber had looked around in amazement. Mr. Shacklebolt had taken them on a long train ride on the _Hogwarts Express_ which had taken them to some little town where they then rode in a carriage to large gates. As they had neared the gates Timber had grown more and more perturbed. Having no idea what may lay beyond the towering iron gates that opened by themselves. Only knowing that whatever it may be was what her future was sure to hold.

After they had been taken into the castle; '_a castle of all things, how cliché', _the adults had conversed for what seemed like forever.

Timber took the time to have a wee look around. It really was a castle.

She had approached a wall and reached out a hand. She hesitated before pressing her palm flat against it. It felt warm, comforting as if the castle itself was saying _hello._ Timber edged closer and pressed her forehead against the warm stone and closed her eyes for a moment.

And the world faded away.

Warm.

She felt welcomed, she felt safe.

When she pulled away and turned back to the adults, she noticed that they were watching her rather curiously. It sent an awkward tingle down the bass of Timber's neck.

With a roll of her shoulders to try and shake her nerves she went back to them.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was not impressed.

The Headmistress stood with her back turned to the girl. She shook her head muttering to herself as she shifted through parchment on her desk. Minerva had believed Kingsley that there was something strange about the girl but, as soon as she had stepped through the door Minerva found herself rather miffed at the Minister. Thinking he could play her for a fool.

There seemed to be nothing wrong with her. Nothing at all! Just a normal little preteen. What was so strange about that?

She shifted through parchment her eyes frantically searching for the letters Kingsley had sent her. Thinking she had missed something.

As she searched by the light of the candle upon her desk, her animagus hearing allowed her to hear the girl; who was seated behind her in front of the desk, shift. Choosing to ignore the sound she searched on.

Absent mindedly she picked up her tea cup.

And that is when the truth came out.

Having been able to catch a few of the Headmistress's mutterings; Timber decided that she had had enough. She was not about to sit there and allow some woman who she didn't even know mutter about her as if she weren't even there. And so with that. She stood.

The tea cup rose to the Headmistress's lips.

And stilled; just millimeters from her mouth.

The papers that were littered across her desk fluttered ever so slightly. The barest of movements, one would normally not have noticed.

Exposed as it was due to her ever so present bun; a breeze seemed to flow across the back of the Headmistress's neck, making little wisps of her hair dance.

It flittered across her cheeks like a soft breath of air.

The candle upon her desk blew out. Yet the firelight from the hearthside stayed lit. Purple hued smoke wreathed in swirling designs before her.

Minerva whirled around.

And what her emerald eyes found behind her made her realize just how right Kingsley had been.

For there...

Just there…

In the straight back chair where the girl was… She was no longer.

Yet above that very chair was that very same girl. Floating there. Three feet above said chair.

Timber stared down at the stunned Headmistress.

And there behind her back. Spread out and beating ever so gently were a set of wings about arm's length wide.

Not just any wings though. No, not just any.

For there…

Just there…

Upon Timber's back were a glorious set of butterfly wings.

Her wings were as black as pitch. And yet, as if covered by a sheen of oil, they shimmered and with each quiver a rainbow of color appeared wherever the light touched them.

The tea cup slipped from suddenly lax fingers. Shattering across the stone floor at the Headmistress's feet.

They were terrifying. They were enchanting. They were… Strange indeed.

_**TBC**_


End file.
